Kansai · Guide de la Préfecture
Le plus grand lac du Japon, un château Trésor national, le plus ancien sushi fermenté au monde et un itinéraire cycliste autour d'un plan d'eau qui reflète l'histoire japonaise depuis deux millénaires
Shiga est la préfecture la plus méconnue du Japon — un territoire enveloppant le plus grand lac du pays, à seulement trente minutes de Kyoto en train express, mais dans un univers complètement différent. Le lac Biwa est si ancien qu'il abrite des espèces endémiques introuvables nulle part ailleurs sur terre, et si historiquement significatif que tous les élèves japonais connaissent son nom. Sur la rive est, le château de Hikone est l'un des quatre châteaux du Japon classés Trésor national, son donjon d'origine et ses douves parfaitement préservés au-dessus de remparts bordés de cerisiers. À Nagahama, des ateliers de verrerie et d'anciens quartiers marchands longent le bord du lac, et chaque printemps le festival Hikiyama fait défiler de somptueuses chars dashi qui défilent depuis 1721. Shiga est un lieu où la profondeur récompense le voyageur qui prend le temps de s'y attarder.
Shiga est étonnamment facile d'accès — Hikone se trouve à 30 minutes de Kyoto sur la JR Biwako Line, et à 90 minutes de Tokyo en Shinkansen Tokaido jusqu'à Maibara. La JR Biwako Line longe la rive est du lac Biwa, rendant la plupart des destinations accessibles en train.
Des guides complets pour planifier chaque aspect de votre séjour — des incontournables aux meilleurs restaurants et événements saisonniers.
Hikone Castle — one of Japan's four National Treasure castles and the best preserved — sits on a hill above Lake Biwa surrounded by 1,200 cherry trees, creating one of the country's finest castle-with-blossoms panoramas. The complete castle complex includes a daimyo garden (Genkyuen) designed to reflect the castle keep in its central pond, and a moat walkway.
Shirahige Shrine's signature vermilion torii gate stands directly in Lake Biwa's shallow water just off the western shore road, creating a composition so reminiscent of Miyajima's famous gate that it earned the same nickname. At dawn, with mist rising from the lake and the gate catching the first light, the view is extraordinarily peaceful. The shrine itself, dedicated to the god Sarutahiko, is one of the oldest on the lake and is free to visit.
The Miho Museum is one of Asia's architectural masterpieces: designed by I.M. Pei and opened in 1997, it is built almost entirely underground in a cedar mountain, accessible via a 163-metre suspension bridge that emerges from a tunnel into sudden panoramic forest views. The collection spans ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Asian art assembled by the Koyama family, displayed in daylit underground galleries of extraordinary refinement. Admission is ¥1,300 and advance reservations are advised.
Hikone Castle is one of only four castles in Japan designated a National Treasure, retaining its original 17th-century keep in near-perfect condition above a mirror-still moat. The admission of ¥800 includes the Genkyuen Garden, a small Edo strolling garden with a pond that reflects the castle's white tower. The surrounding park's 1,000 cherry trees make it one of western Japan's finest blossom destinations each late March.
Chikubushima is a tiny sacred island in the northern part of Lake Biwa reached by a 30-minute ferry from Nagahama or Hikone for around ¥3,000, revered as the dwelling of the goddess Benzaiten and one of Japan's three great Benzaiten sites. The island's Tsukubusuma Shrine and Hogonji Temple are built almost entirely over the water, with a celebrated kawarake toss tradition where visitors throw clay discs through a torii gate to earn a wish. The island's dense forest and clifftop shrine buildings feel entirely otherworldly.
Nagahama on the northern shore of Lake Biwa was a castle town developed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and is now celebrated for a concentration of artisan glass studios alongside preserved merchant streetscapes. The Black Wall Square district houses a dozen glasswork galleries in converted kurazashiki storehouses, where visitors can watch glowing glass being blown and shaped. The adjacent Kuromon Market sells fresh Lake Biwa fish, local black soybeans, and regional pickles.
Omi beef is Japan's oldest wagyu brand, with documented trading records from the Edo period when it was sent as tribute to the Tokugawa shogunate, predating both Kobe and Matsusaka in provenance if not in modern fame. Raised on the shores of Lake Biwa where the mild climate and abundant soft water produce distinctive sweetly-marbled fat, Omi beef is considered most sublime as sukiyaki with locally brewed sake. Premium cut sukiyaki at a Hikone or Otsu restaurant typically costs ¥5,000–¥12,000.
Lake Biwa's 60 endemic species include a number of fish found nowhere else on earth, and lakeside restaurants in Otsu, Nagahama, and Hikone serve a cuisine built around smelt tempura, ayu sweetfish grilled whole on skewers, and nigorobuna carp preparations. Summer ayu is considered among Japan's finest river fish and the Lake Biwa version is particularly aromatic and bittersweet. A full kaiseki meal showcasing multiple lake fish courses at a Biwa-ko shore ryokan is one of Shiga's defining gastronomic experiences.
The eastern shores of Lake Biwa produce a distinctive style of refined, soft-tasting sake that reflects the region's extremely low-mineral water drawn from the Suzuka mountain aquifer. The Hiyoshi, Shichihonyari, and Biwa no Choju breweries have been operating since the Edo period and their tasting rooms welcome visitors without reservation. The pairing of Koto region sake with Omi beef or Lake Biwa fish cuisine is regarded as one of the finest regional food-and-drink combinations in Japan.
Funazushi is the direct ancestor of all sushi: nigorobuna carp caught from Lake Biwa are salt-cured for months, packed in rice, and fermented for between six months and three years in a process unchanged since the Nara period. The result is intensely funky, sour, and complex — a flavour closer to aged cheese than anything recognisable as sushi today — and it is both Shiga's most prized regional food and the one that requires the most courage to try. A single portion at a Shiga restaurant typically costs ¥2,000–¥4,000.
Shiga's Omi chanpon is a hearty bowl of thick wheat noodles in pork-and-vegetable broth topped with a mound of stir-fried cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, and pork slices, sharing only its name with Nagasaki's more famous version. Developed as the signature dish of a local chain that originated in Hikone, Omi chanpon has spread across Shiga Prefecture and is now ubiquitous at roadside restaurants and in local food courts. At around ¥700 it is the definitive affordable meal of the prefecture.
Funazushi — crucian carp salted and packed with cooked rice for 1–3 years of lactic fermentation — is Japan's oldest surviving form of sushi (narezushi), predating the rice-eating vinegar-seasoned style by a thousand years. The intensely pungent, umami-rich flavour divides visitors sharply. Traditional producers in Takashima and Moriyama offer tastings of their prized aged varieties.
A 2.4-kilometre avenue of 500 dawn redwood trees lines the road from Lake Biwa's western shore into the Makino highland, turning from deep summer green to brilliant copper and gold in November in one of Kansai's most dramatic autumn foliage displays. The trees were planted in 1981 and now form a cathedral-like tunnel that has been selected as one of Japan's top 100 roads. The avenue is free to walk or cycle and is dramatically backlit in the low winter sun.
Lake Biwa is Japan's largest lake and one of the world's oldest at over 4 million years, harbouring 60 species found nowhere else on Earth including unique freshwater fish, snails, and submerged plants. The lake's 190-kilometre shoreline encompasses everything from reed marshes and sandy beaches to volcanic headlands and shrine islands, offering different character in each season. Sitting at the heart of Japanese mythology and history — Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and the ancient Tokaido road all orbited this lake — it rewards deeper exploration than most visitors give it.
Mt. Ibuki at 1,377 metres is Shiga's highest mountain and one of Japan's most celebrated peaks for alpine wildflower diversity, with over 200 species documented on its slopes including rare gentians and bellflowers that bloom from June through August. A toll road brings drivers to a trail starting point near the summit, with the final ascent on foot revealing panoramic views across the Nobi Plain and the Suzuka range. The mountain holds the world record for the greatest single snowfall in a 24-hour period, recorded in 1927.
The extensive reed marshes lining Lake Biwa's northwestern shore form one of Japan's most important bird sanctuaries, hosting egrets, ospreys, cranes, and numerous migratory waterfowl species that stop on the East Asian flyway. The marshes also support a traditional reed-cutting industry that supplies materials for tea ceremony tools and roof thatching, and guided kayak tours thread through the channels at water level. The Eau de Biwa nature centre at Shiozu provides free access and information on the wetland ecosystem.
The Biwaichi full-lake cycling circuit of 190 kilometres is one of Japan's most celebrated cycling challenges, typically completed over two days with overnight stays in lakeside minshuku and ryokan guesthouses. Rental bicycles are available at JR stations around the lake, and participants collect stamps at checkpoints to earn an official completion certificate. The route is signposted throughout and the predominantly flat terrain with lake views makes it accessible to intermediate cyclists.
The Michishirube cruise ship departs Otsu Port for sightseeing circuits of southern Lake Biwa, offering panoramic deck views of the Hiei mountain range, Biwako Valley, and the distant Chikubushima island on clear days. The vessel is styled after a paddle steamer and serves Omi beef bento and local sake in an onboard restaurant. Sunset and evening dinner cruises run in summer, with Otsu Port accessible directly from Kyoto in 15 minutes by JR Biwako Line.
Lake Biwa's calm, shallow southern basin provides near-ideal conditions for stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking, with rental outfitters at Moriyama, Otsu, and Shiga Town beaches offering equipment by the hour or half-day. On windless summer mornings the glassy water reflects the Hira mountain range, and experienced paddlers can navigate to offshore reed islands that are inaccessible by any other means. Several operators also run guided sunrise SUP tours that start before 6am for a magical empty-lake experience.
Biwako Valley on Mt. Buna above Otsu operates as a ski resort from December through March and a hiking and paragliding destination in summer, connected by a ropeway that delivers passengers to 1,108 metres with an extraordinary aerial view over the entire expanse of Lake Biwa. In winter the powder slopes are less crowded than Nagano's resorts and easily accessed from Kyoto in under an hour. The summer ropeway ride alone, followed by wildflower meadow walks at the summit, is worth the journey.
Lake Biwa — Japan's largest freshwater lake — hosts several spectacular summer fireworks events. The Otsu Port Festival fires 10,000 shells reflected in the vast lake surface, while Nagahama's summer event fills the northern shore. The combination of mountain backdrop, open water reflections, and unobstructed horizon makes Lake Biwa fireworks Japan's most majestic lake-side displays.
Listed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Nagahama's Hikiyama Matsuri (April 14–17) is Japan's most unusual festival: boys aged 5–12, trained for months in advance, perform sophisticated Kabuki scenes in full adult costume and makeup on each float's upper stage. Twelve floats rotate through the city over four days, each townblock (cho) performing on alternate days.
Listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Nagahama Hikiyama Festival each April features twelve ornate dashi floats — among the most elaborately decorated festival vehicles in Japan — carrying stages on which children aged 5 to 12 perform full kabuki theatre. The tradition began in 1721 and only four of the twelve floats perform each year on a rotation, making any given year's performance unique. The combination of tiny costumed performers on towering gilded stages draws visitors from across Japan.
Hikone Castle's moat and surrounding park host over 1,000 cherry trees that typically reach full bloom in late March to early April, making this one of Japan's finest castle-plus-cherry-blossom combinations. Evening illuminations turn the castle and its reflection in the moat into a soft golden spectacle after dark, and food stalls fill the park grounds for the duration of the blossom season. The National Treasure keep provides a backdrop that no modern park setting can replicate.
The Azai Three Sisters Festival each summer celebrates the three daughters of the Azai clan lord of Odani Castle — Chacha, Hatsu, and Oichi — who became among the most influential women of the Sengoku period, their marriages linking the Azai, Oda, and Toyotomi families in a web of alliance and tragedy. Parades in full Sengoku-era costume traverse Nagahama's historic streets, and the festival includes tea ceremony demonstrations reflecting the cultural sophistication of the period. It is one of Shiga's most historically resonant summer events.
Japan's largest lake offers ideal conditions for sailing and windsurfing — consistent afternoon breezes from the surrounding mountains, warm summer water, and no tidal complications. Schools at Otsu, Moriyama, and Nagahama offer beginner sailing courses on dinghies and windsurfer lessons, with the dramatic backdrop of Hikone Castle and Ibuki-san mountain adding to an already spectacular setting.
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